Complete Eastern Brisshal Oh man what a fall from space that was! So anyways,

[Aroda]

"Eh...you mean in real life? True, but there you still don't want a 13 year old slamming drinks. This is a game though, so it's totally fine, right?"

The Aroda says, with total flippancy. She wasn't exactly a big drinker, considering she'd not done it super often - being, herself, below the drinking age - but it still seemed right and normal to do when having a meetup with friends, especially since she was already familiar with her limit. She just probably couldn't do it at a bar in real life. She didn't know anyone that could do convincing fake IDs.

"For now, why don't we go find this inn? I doubt I'll really need to go there and sleep either way, especially since I guess, magia don't 'sleep'...but it sounds like the sort of place that's a common hangout spot. And it'd be good to see where I can apparently find you, in the future."

She says with a light squeeze of recognition to Azykia's hand, with the affirmation that they'd now be heading off to find the inn.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"I suppose that's true. I don't enjoy when men do it, so I can't imagine an inebriated child would show any more restraint." The girl said just a bit sharply, but with a smile on her face all the same. "By the way. I don't remember if I said so already, but the people of this world are called 'landers', and they aren't too fond of when people refer to Terrasphere as a game, or the Starcalled Realm as reality."

"I for one have no concerns one way or the other, although I might develop a different opinion if I ever become UI Locked. After all, that would make Terrasphere your only reality, wouldn't it?"

As the two neared the town again, as Azykia could tell from the noise of hustle and bustle off in the distance, she spoke again quietly. "Thank you."

"To be honest with you, I wasn't sure if I was going to be any proper help to you. Especially with how I can't see." She flashed the magia a look, as in directionally, not the negatively connotated expression. "Your grace in such company is admirable."

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

"Right, the...not-NPCs. So Landers from Terrasphere, and...Starcalled from the Starcalled Realm? ...I would say I can't imagine how a computer can get upset about things like that...but today I learned dead peoples' minds can get trapped in a video game. Who knows what's going on with these people...I guess I'll try and remember the uh, Lander stuff. And you...should really try and avoid this 'UI-locked' thing. Death's no joke. ...Besides we wouldn't wanna find out this is some government ploy to steal the locked peoples' minds, eh? Who knows what they'd be doing with 'em?"

She delivers these words thoughtfully, seriously, and casually, all as appropriate. She then starts to swing her arm a bit, moving her and Azykia's hand along with it in a rhythm as they walked.

"And don't be so down on yourself either. I'm pretty sure I found the best help in Honeyhome. Doubt anyone else can navigate this place with their eyes closed."

Aroda chuckles a bit, but it's clear to tell she's not joking, just finds some lighthearted amusement in the turn of phrase. The sound of her laughter, brief as it was, gives way to a different sound, a 'hm?' kind of sound, as what lay before them catches her attention.

"Ah right, town's just up ahead. So, once we're in, you can show the way to the inn, right?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Azykia chuckled along with Aroda, because honestly, the robot had a good sense of humor. Unlike her sometimes.

"Mhmm. It should be nearly directly ahead when we enter, if we're coming from the starting area. About... eighty four steps forward from the well to our forward-right upon entry, then twelve to the left." She couldn't help but to smile. "One thing I'm afraid of is that when I finally leave Honeyhome, I'm going to forget all of the counting I've done and have to measure it out all over again." The girl chuckled once again, but mostly for the pause between her words. "I wonder, is it worth it to leave and risk the safety and comfort I have here, when I still manage to enjoy my day-to-day life?"

"You travel a lot, right? Does it still scare you to go to new places, or even old ones?"

What a busy town. Apparently Honeyhome peak hours were whatever time it was right now. Not that Azykia could tell daytime from nighttime without the context of her other senses.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Azykia's question gives Aroda pause, as she thinks on it for a bit longer than usual while they walk, delaying her response just long enough to almost seem like she wasn't even going to answer, or perhaps hadn't heard her. But then of course,

"...Well, there's always some uncertainty getting to a new place."

Perhaps more than some, in her case, but it was never usually that dire. She tried to avoid going to places that were too...crimey.

"But these days I'm pretty much always on the move, so, I suppose I've gotten used to it, to an extent. And I can understand the uh...trepidation,"

She says with an audible pause to try and remember that word,

"Since I wasn't so sure about doing it too long ago. The world's an unreasonably big place, there's all sorts of nasty stuff out there, and the world doesn't care how much of that it throws at you. But once I got going, and started enjoying seeing new stuff, I also thought...the world is full of interesting things, too. So the world being so big was less 'intimidating', and more...exciting. Since I'll probably never run out of new stuff to see, y'know?"

And of course, when her monologue ends while she smiles through it, she stops as their path has finally brought them through town to their destination - in front of the inn!

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

The inn seemed to be a busier place than most, inside and out, though anyone who has ever played certain MMOs could have presumed as much. Azykia on the other hand was just used to it at this point. That loud shuffling about and newbies talking about build plans was pretty much a giant neon sign that said 'hey blind girl, the inn is literally right here'. She dragged the magia inside (or rather, she was letting the magia drag her inside) and walked towards the counter with a firm grasp on her hand.

The innkeeper saw her and did his best to tend to literally any other patron nearby. According to subtext, this Azykia girl was apparently a hit with all the landers.

This didn't slow her down at all, though, since she already had a room and pulled Aroda along down the hall to the left. She ran her hand along the right wall of the hall, counting to the fifth door, and opened it with a key she had tied to the inside of her yukata with a bright blue string made of magic

Within the quaint, soft-carpeted room, there was... honestly very little. A dresser, a bed, a nightstand, an armoire, and a curtained window which lit the room. The girl yawned and covered it with her sleeve, despite the window shining in the bright rays of the sun.

"Pardon me. I always suddenly feel tired whenever I get here." Azykia chuckled.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Aroda takes as much of a good look at the interior here as she can while being pulled along/pulling along Azykia, finding the setup to be interesting - she'd never exactly been inside of a fantasy inn before. She had expected it to be busier, but not exactly this busy. There were this many players - eh, starcalled, still hanging out in this little inn? None of them even look like they're blind! She supposed that some people just can't resist the quiet country vibe this place had, but it seemed like such a waste.

Of course, then the Azykia keeps leading the way, all the way to her room, and listens intently as Azykia finally says something since they entered.

"...I see. So, that mean you're ditching me soon?"

Aroda answers back, clearly in jest, as she checks around the room that was empty of any decoration at all, which was, yeah, about as expected.

"So, landers aren't so friendly to anyone, or is that just to you?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Well, truthfully, I'm in no hurry to do so." She looked up at Aroda, still unsure exactly where her head was yet. "But if you want to see the world outside of Honeyhome for a while, this might just be fated to be for the time being."

For Aroda to ask a question like that second one, it must certainly be apparent in some way she was unaware of. Were people giving her ugly looks en masse? Was she hated or even simply tolerated by the people of this town she had lived in for the last few weeks? She put a loose fist to her chin and tilted her head down a bit as a small, almost cocky smirk remained on her face in defiance of her previous thoughts.

"I would say they're just like people in the other world. Some are mean, and some are not. Although, I suppose it's fair that I would hold terrible repute with some of them. After all, I can be quite spiteful when people point an attitude in my general direction." She laughed. "I can't say the owner of this inn and I get along, but that's what he gets for calling my 'sister' and I special snowflakes."

She was once again smiling with a beaming radiance, as though recalling whatever she had been thinking about filled her with a grand amount of elation.

"Anyways, I should never be too difficult to find. Just ask around for the little blind girl. I'm usually out and about as much as I can be."

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

Special snowflakes...wow. Now it'd been a while since she heard that one.

"Pff. Sounds like a ray of sunshine. I'm not sure if you'd know...but, do you know if the 'landers' have any inclinations toward non-humans in this game? Like, magia, for example? Just in case I gotta worry about any 'special snowflake' landers acting unwise because I've got metal parts."

She pauses on some of her final thoughts to be sharing in this meeting, particularly thinking further on the fact that she's a magia, here, and remembering further what that all means.

"Ah...right, while I'm thinking about it, I'm guessing you don't know where there are, 'sources of magical energy'? I mentioned magia don't sleep...apparently it's because they just 'recharge' next to those. And I'm guessing that I don't count for that just because I can do magic...since that'd be like, recursive. And also impossible."

The magia examines her metal hands and other gear, but she doesn't actually have anything 'magical' on her person unless the fancy jewelry counted...which she was sure it didn't.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Eh? That sort of thing... Well, I haven't noticed anything of the sort, but then again." She waved her hand in front of her face.

"Sources... of magical energy...?" Now she actually put a fist to her chin, seeming deep in thought. "I think I'd be able to tell you where one is if I had ever seen one. To be honest, there is a building full of magic not too far from here. Besides that, I hear that Eastern Brisshal in a vague sense has magical obelisks with runes on them. While I've never ventured far out enough to see one, maybe you could find one just off the beaten path."

"Aside from that, I have nothing certain for you to go off of. My apologies. Perhaps somebody else knows more about it." She let her hands rest at her sides once again, then gave the magia a bow with a practiced grace (unsurprisingly from what the two discussed on the way here).

"I had a lot of fun today. Thank you for your patience and kindness, Aroda."

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

"Yeah, I figured. Guess I'll have to look for someone who's been playing a little longer than us. That or just, figure out how to make a...magitech battery, or something."

The amusement in her voice is audible, as she doesn't sound too troubled about this 'energy' thing. Mainly thanks to it not being the end all - even if she never found any, she'd apparently just 'shut down' and regain energy more slowly for a bit. She'd have to look into this so it didn't interrupt her too much, but it shouldn't be that bad either.

"...In either case, I guess we'll be parting ways for now. I'll be looking around here for a bit, try to learn some stuff, maybe find more useful little items...hopefully not run out of batteries."

She chuckles a bit at the thought of magia just needing to change their batteries to keep going, but does recover and return the proper amount of attention to the girl before her.

Safe in the knowledge that this girl was actually older than her, Aroda felt it only fitting to get a playful dig in. She crouches down to Azykia's eye level - only really apparent through her voice sounding much closer, and more direct, and then provides her a combination headpat / hair tousle. With her metal hands. So she's not that rough with it.

"So, thanks for your company, 'little sis'. I'll see you around?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

She raised from her bow to give the magia a playful grin in return. One that Azykia usually laced with the figurative cyanide of spite, but was currently free of any sort of poison or shade. After all, Aroda calling her 'little sis' wasn't a bad thing. At the end of the day, she asked of this woman to keep a secret for her, if only more for the sake of the people she had bonded with up until now, so the nickname was really only an affirmation of her willingness to do so.

"You shall, although I," she blinked twice with a slight pause in her words, "will not see you around. I do hope you can forgive me, Aroda-nee-san." She pulled out the Japanese, only to pass along the torch of poking fun at people in the moment. Even if those people weren't even here right now.

With one last gleeful giggle, she stood at the door and held it to close and lock behind the robot once she left.

@Aroda

 

[Aroda]

"Aroda what now? Is that slur or something?"

Aroda asks, partially with real confusion, and partially with a joke. It probably wasn't, but also, she didn't know what that meant, so it was fair game to immediately assume it was negative! Like with merry cone.

Though, as she ponders the rest of what Azykia said, she does have another idea. After she's risen back to her full height, she looks to her and starts again,

"Well, either way, whether or not you see me will kind of depend, won't it?"

On queue, she replicates her old little magic trick, sending electrical sparks running between her fingers and down her metal arm with sudden crackles. She examines her arm with a flex as she lets the current die down, thinking, man that's still really cool.

"If all this magitech stuff goes well, might even be able to see me passively once I'm decked out in cool gear. I hope I can get some cool gear, anyways. I'm looking forward to seeing how far this system goes. "

Azykia hears this excited voice slowly move over toward the door, finally about to leave,

"But that's for another time. See you, Azy."

and delivers her goodbye.

@Azykia